Marcin Jakubowski

Last updated
Marcin Jakubowski
Born1972 (age 5253)
Poznań, Poland
NationalityPolish American
Education Princeton University (BA, Chemistry), University of Wisconsin–Madison (PhD, Physics)
Organization Open Source Ecology
Website opensourceecology.org

Marcin Jakubowski (born 1972) is a Polish American physicist and entrepreneur best known as the founder of Open Source Ecology (OSE), a project dedicated to developing open source industrial machines and tools for sustainable living. [1]

Contents

Career

Jakubowski founded Open Source Ecology in 2003 after earning his PhD in physics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison[ citation needed ]. The project’s goal is to create the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS), a modular collection of open source machines designed to support small-scale, self-sufficient communities through distributed manufacturing and open design principles. [2]

Jakubowski presented his work in a widely viewed TED talk titled Open-Sourced Blueprints for Civilization in 2011, which helped bring international attention to the OSE project. [3] Following the talk, OSE received media coverage from outlets such as Make magazine, Gizmodo, and Grist, and won Make magazine’s “Green Project Contest” the same year. [4]

In 2012, Jakubowski became a Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow and a TED Fellow. [5]

Most of OSE’s research and prototyping activities take place at Factor e Farm, the organization’s headquarters in rural Missouri. [6]

In 2016, Jakubowski and researcher Catarina Mota co-founded the Open Building Institute (OBI), which focuses on developing open source tools and methods for affordable, sustainable housing. [7]

Personal life

Jakubowski was born in Poznań, Poland. He married Catarina Mota in December 2013 in New York City. [8] They continue to collaborate on open source hardware and housing initiatives.

See also

References

  1. "About Open Source Ecology". Open Source Ecology. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  2. "Hacking the farm with low-cost, open source tool designs". Opensource.com. 26 February 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  3. "Marcin Jakubowski: Open-sourced blueprints for civilization". TED. April 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  4. "Green Project Contest Winners". Make Magazine. 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  5. "Meet the TED2012 Fellows". TED Blog. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  6. "Factor e Farm". Open Source Ecology Wiki. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  7. "Open Building Institute: Eco-Building Toolkit". Kickstarter. 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
  8. "Open Source Couple Builds Open Source Houses". Make Magazine. 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2025.